Most Russians prefer to open deposits in large banks — survey
For more than 53% of Russians who keep money in bank accounts, the size and status of the bank, as well as its financial performance, are important. At the same time, 33% of respondents trust large banks from the TOP-10, even if their rate is slightly lower than in smaller banks; for 8% of respondents, the presence of the state as a shareholder of the bank is important; for 4%, only the opportunity to earn money and high rates are important. Analysts from the Servisoria company came to this conclusion in their survey “Store funds in a bank.” More than 80% of respondents when asked about a reliable bank indicated Sberbank.
In March-April this year, the Servisoria company conducted a survey “Store funds in a bank”, in which 1000 people took part. It was held in different age categories in different regions of Russia. Respondents were asked to answer questions related to trusting banks in the matter of storing money in accounts, name the most reliable bank, and also talk about methods of saving money and their preferences.
According to the survey, the majority of respondents trust Sberbank. The name of the credit institution was indicated by 81% of respondents. In second place is Tinkoff Bank (10%). To the question “What would be synonymous with the word “reliable” for you when talking about a bank?” respondents gave a variety of answers. By a reliable bank, respondents most often understand “big, large, solid, solid, fundamental” — 24% of all answers. In 17% of cases, characteristics such as “safe, protected, guaranteed” were indicated, in 12% — “stable, stable”, in 10% — “popular, in demand, famous, top”.
“Today banks offer their clients a large number of different products for investing and storing money. At the same time, the key rate of the Bank of Russia remains quite high. And if this fact negatively affects loan products, where the rate increases, then in the case of deposits, the increase allows banks to make offers on deposits more attractive. We decided to ask Russians whether they trust banks with their money, where and how they prefer to place it, whether they are chasing high interest rates or choosing stability,” comments Anna Belova, Project Manager for Customer Experience at Servizoria companies, commenting on the survey results.
< p>According to her, 53% of respondents are important to the size and status of the bank; they look at financial indicators, as well as government participation. In addition, many prefer to deposit their money in large banks included in the top ten.
Russians are indeed increasingly choosing large banks for retail deposit products, says Anna Avakimyan, chief analyst at RegBlock. In her opinion, this is caused by two factors. “Firstly, over the past 3-5 years, large market participants have adjusted their tariff policy, and in the event of an increase in interest rates, they quickly adjust the terms of deposits so that they are not inferior to the offers of smaller players. Secondly, people often associate time deposits with a bank’s large branch network, while savings accounts are associated with debit cards with favorable conditions. In most cases, a large market participant can provide both,” the expert notes.
Alexander Tsyganov, head of the Department of Insurance and Social Economics at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, believes that the choice of Russians towards large banks, including those from the top ten, is associated with the recognition of credit institutions and their established image in the market and among clients. Also, territorial convenience plays a big role in the choice — offices and ATMs are literally at hand: in supermarkets, at bus stops, and so on. At the same time, large lenders are paying significant attention to the development of Internet banking, which makes it possible to open deposits, replenish and close them online. “At the same time, experienced investors always look at the financial indicators of the company itself, and we see that the same Sberbank has been giving positive results for several years in a row. In addition, do not forget about the favorable time for investing — banks often announce promotions with increased rates on deposits and other products,” the interlocutor comments.
According to the survey, 81% of respondents save money, while 19% noted that they do not save at all. Also, 80.9% of respondents have a deposit or savings account in a bank. A classic deposit is preferred by 29% of survey participants, a savings account by 58.4% of respondents, and 12.3% chose other products.
Interestingly, 39.3% save in order to get the required amount for some either the goal or not to waste money, 34.8% — with the goal of making a profit in the form of interest, 8.9% simply have the habit of saving a certain amount in a bank account. Also, almost 9% bring money to the bank, fearing scammers and thieves, 7.8% chose the answer “other.”
“About 63% of all survey participants of different ages prefer to save a non-fixed part of their monthly income, depending on the circumstances. At the same time, more than 12.5% of respondents save more than 20% of the monthly family income,” the survey data provides.
To the question “Are you satisfied with the rates on deposits in Russian banks?” 34.8% of respondents answered that rates are adjusted to the situation in the economy, and nothing can be done about it, 33.7% believe that “it will do, but it could be higher,” 25.84% chose the answer “quite satisfied” .
Recall that according to the Bank of Russia, in the first ten days of April the average maximum rate did not change and amounted to 14.83%. Thus, the real return on deposits minus inflation was 7.1%, clarifies economist Andrei Barkhota.
“According to the survey data that I see, more than half of potential investors are ready to consider the possibility of placing free funds on deposits. At the same time, they consider the current interest rate to be at least acceptable,” the expert continues.
More often people aged 36 to 45 years and aged 56 to 65 years have a savings account in a bank, as well as married respondents with many children. The classic deposit is most often preferred by the age groups from 56 to 65 years and from 46 to 55 years. According to the survey, the age group from 18 to 25 years old hardly uses the classic deposit.
“The overwhelming majority of respondents did not encounter the problem of storing money in bank accounts (94%). The main reasons for the inconvenience are related to the fact that SWIFT transfers to the Russian Federation were disabled, the interest rate changed, restrictions were introduced on foreign currency accounts, the respondent withdrew money before the expiration of the contract and did not receive interest on the deposit,” the survey data provides.
In their summary, experts noted that when choosing credit institutions, Russians usually rely on two criteria — its scale and its popularity. “People tend to evaluate the scale of a bank not in terms of value, but first of all, whether the bank is included in the list of systemically important credit institutions. In this case, citizens’ trust in financial institutions grows quite strongly. The population tends to associate the bank’s fame with the quality and volume of communication. At the same time, citizens often pay attention to the fact that information is presented through different channels: outdoor advertising, Internet communications, and, most importantly, television and radio advertising,” Barhota said.